The Best Performing Component Of The S&P 500 Since It Was Born 60 Years Ago

The S&P 500 is celebrating its diamond jubilee year, having made its appearance on March 4, 1957. Nevertheless, the broader gauge is quite young one should say, when compared to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is 132 years old or the average life expectancy of an American, which was 78.8 years in 2016.

Standard & Poor's lays down a few criteria for companies to qualify as a S&P 500 Index component.

• All components have to be U.S. companies.
• Market capitalization should be at least $5.3 billion.
• At least 50 percent of outstanding shares should be available for trading.
• The security should have adequate liquidity and reasonable price.
• Companies should have positive as-reported earnings for the most recent five quarters.

Up And Running…

Benzinga compiled a listing of companies that continue to be components of the S&P 500 Index since its inception, based on a PR Newswire, which S&P released in 2007 to commemorate the golden anniversary. These companies were then culled to remove the ones which are no longer part of the index; The listing threw up 66 companies.

In order to find the one that's the top ranker among these companies in terms of performance, Benzinga used data dating back to June 1, 1972, given the non-availability of stock quotes prior to that.

Another aspect to be considered is that some companies left the index and rejoined later, meaning they weren't a permanent fixture in the index in the intervening years. For example, General Motors Company GM, which filed for a government-assisted chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009, IPOed its shares in 2010 after emerging from bankruptcy.

Additionally, there were others who renamed themselves either due to acquisitions or divestments. For these companies, stock information isn't available for the period under consideration. WestRock Co WRK, formed from the merger of MeadWestvaco and RockTenn, has quotes only from mid-2015, although MeadWestvaco, a constituent company, was part of the index since its inception until it became a part of WestRock.

Kraft Heinz Co KHC is now a relatively a younger name in the index, although Heinz's membership is as old as the index.

In order to make the performance analysis comparable, these seven companies were left out the contention.

And The Winner Is…

Boeing Co BA, which clocked in gains of 24,049 percent from the adjusted price of $0.74 way back in June 1972.

Some of the other frontrunners in terms of returns are:

• General Dynamics Corporation GD : + 20,140 percent
• Abbott Laboratories ABT - +1530 percent
• S&P Global Inc SPGI - +11370 percent
• Hershey Co HSY - +10950 percent

Related Links:

6 Market Innovations Younger Than The S&P 500 Index

The Trump Playbook: S&P 500 To 2,500 In 2017